make in light of the new technologies. Consequently, the examples I will give will tend to cite specific works or the composers commentary on their own work. In any event, the technologies, composers, and comments were chosen because they clarify or highlight a particular kind of response. My comments expand on and particularize the observations and some of the work of the German critic/theorist Walter Benjamin and that of Margot Lovejoy – specifically her observations in the book Postmodern Currents.¹

It should be noted at the outset that many examples, including some of those given below, do not neatly fall into one and only one of the categories described. This is not surprising as composers frequently will have more than one reason for the things they do. Nevertheless, the examples should provide instances of sufficiently clear motivations and methods as to be useful in illustrating a category.

Total Embrace

One general category of response can be termed “total embrace”. Artists in this category welcome and make immediate use of new tools. Many do so for one or more of the following reasons.

The Pioneer Mentality

I use this term because these composers and performers are thrilled with the advent of new tools and toys. They cannot wait to explore these technologies and to make new works with them. I could cite many examples and perhaps some of the composers reading this think of themselves in the same way. Two composers who come to mind are Morton Subotnick and Larry Austin. Subotnick, not only because of his work in electronic music in the 1960’s but, more recently, his early utilization of the CD-ROM medium.

In the case of Larry Austin, as new technologies have developed, he has quickly adapted them to his own compositional practices, and as one composer told Austin, “. . . when we get to them Larry, we find you already at work with a bunch of arrows in your back.” (Personal conversation with Larry Austin.) Just one example is Austin’s quick adoption of the ADAT format for the realization and performance of octophonic works such as his octophonic tape piece, Djuro’s Tree.²

The Reluctant Pioneers

This sub-category is related to the “pioneers” but somewhat different. The “reluctant pioneers” are people who are drawn to new tools, have a talent for doing the time-consuming and difficult work of developing new technologies, but regret that it takes so much time away from other aspects of composing, and wish there was another way. In an interview discussing his work from the 1970’s, Charles Dodge was asked: “Do you still write non-electronic scores?” He replied: